Sixtieth Anniversary of the Soummam Congress
The operations in North Constantine made it possible, among other things, to prepare the ground for the holding of the Soummam Congress on August 20, 1956, which was an essential step for the evaluation of the first stage of the armed revolution and the establishment of the main lines in order to continue the struggle and the planning of political action for obtaining national independence, it was also an effective procedure for providing the revolution with a united central command.
The congress was held in Douar Ouzelaguen, in the region of Ifri, wilaya of Béjaia, the safest place because of the difficulty of access to this region by the occupation forces.
The congress saw the participation of leading figures of the revolution such as Larbi BEN M'HIDI, ABANE Ramdane, Amar OUAMRANE, KRIM Belkacem, ZIGHOUD Youcef, Lakhdar BENTOUBAL, and the notable absence of SI CHERIF as well as that of Mustapha BENBOULAID who fell on the field of honor.
Among the important decisions taken during the congress:
On the military level:
- Expand the scope of commando and military operations and their generalization
- Change the term region by the term Wilaya, and Nahia by region, and the section becomes Nahia, thus Algeria is now composed of six (06) military wilayas, and the establishment of regions in each wilaya.
- The composition of a united national collective command represented by the National Council of the Revolution. The organization of the army and the creation of military ranks and the granting of salaries and pensions to the mujahideen and their families on the political level:
- Work for the internationalization of the Algerian cause and bring it to international bodies
- Set and determine the internal and external policy of the National Liberation Front
- Work for the liberation of the country and total independence
On a social and cultural level:
- Organize the population in order to strengthen the revolution financially
- Boycott the French economy through strikes
- Raise awareness among the Algerian people through the media – distribution of leaflets, creation of newspapers and a special radio.
The congress was held in Douar Ouzelaguen, in the region of Ifri, wilaya of Béjaia, the safest place because of the difficulty of access to this region by the occupation forces.
The congress saw the participation of leading figures of the revolution such as Larbi BEN M'HIDI, ABANE Ramdane, Amar OUAMRANE, KRIM Belkacem, ZIGHOUD Youcef, Lakhdar BENTOUBAL, and the notable absence of SI CHERIF as well as that of Mustapha BENBOULAID who fell on the field of honor.
Among the important decisions taken during the congress:
On the military level:
- Expand the scope of commando and military operations and their generalization
- Change the term region by the term Wilaya, and Nahia by region, and the section becomes Nahia, thus Algeria is now composed of six (06) military wilayas, and the establishment of regions in each wilaya.
- The composition of a united national collective command represented by the National Council of the Revolution. The organization of the army and the creation of military ranks and the granting of salaries and pensions to the mujahideen and their families on the political level:
- Work for the internationalization of the Algerian cause and bring it to international bodies
- Set and determine the internal and external policy of the National Liberation Front
- Work for the liberation of the country and total independence
On a social and cultural level:
- Organize the population in order to strengthen the revolution financially
- Boycott the French economy through strikes
- Raise awareness among the Algerian people through the media – distribution of leaflets, creation of newspapers and a special radio.